Free Prior and Informed Consent: An indigenous peoples’ right and a good practice for local communities

This Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Manual is designed as a tool for project practitioners (herein referred as project managers) for a broad range of projects and programmes (hereinafter to be referred to as projects) of any development organization, by providing information about the right to FPIC and how it can be implemented in six steps. The development of this manual has been the result of a consultative process that began in July 2015 between FAO and a number of its partner organizations such as Action Against Hunger, Action Aid, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) and World Vision. FPIC is a principle protected by international human rights standards that state, ‘all peoples have the right to self-determination’ and – linked to the right to self-determination – ‘all peoples have the right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development’. Backing FPIC are the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Labour Organization Convention 169, which are the most powerful and comprehensive international instruments that recognize the plights of Indigenous Peoples and defend their rights. Introduction This manual deeply rooted in a human rights based approach, is designed to assist development organizations to respect the right to FPIC when developing and implementing projects affecting Indigenous Peoples. The manual contains a six-step procedure to facilitate the FPIC process while showing its benefits, as well as providing the regulatory framework to be used when mainstreaming Indigenous Peoples’ rights within organizations’ policies and standards. It is also worth mentioning that this manual does not aim to substitute the role of the state as the primary duty bearer. It is important to note that this is a ‘Working Final’ version of the document, meaning that there will be periodic updates to this version based on the application of this Manual, increased information and experience related to the application of FPIC in the field, and continued input and feedback from the different stakeholders involved.